Fashion bloggers and the Daily Mail UK in particular have made ‘flawless’ the descriptive word du jour, the dividing line between the beautiful people and the rest of us. She is flawless; her makeup is flawless; the Photoshop job is flawless. Applause, please. We are witnessing the magnificence of ‘flawlessness’, a beauty standard that eludes the majority of us.

It’s a modern values word — flawless —grounded in self-absorption and the SATC mantra that she who has the most stilettos in her closet wins the game. No sex is required; that naughty Samantha has enough for the rest of us assembled to bear witness to flawless fashion.

We can’t even blame French men and the fashion industry for creating the concept of flawless. I sense it’s a form of control that women impose on each other.

Stephanie Nielson Is Truly Flawless

Because of the diversity of our ‘fashion to flogging’ mindset at AOC, unintended beauty twists often come my way. I always know when NieNie’s Stephanie Nielson has been on a talk show — or Google Images has give us a prime spot on Stephanie’s search roster.

Without warning yesterday, Mrs NieNie delivered a thousand page views in an hour, causing me to thank Google Images because Stephanie is at home in Arizona, from all appearances.

Stephanie Nielson would be the first person to tell you that she is not ‘flawless’ — at least physically. Before the plane crash, Mrs NieNie was one hot tomato with four kids and an adoring husband.

A plane ride changed the Nielsons’ lives forever.

No one has caused me to reflect on life, physical beauty, tragedy, courage, resilience and love more than Stephanie Nielson. Until Stephanie it was my maternal grandmother, a woman ravaged by rheumatoid arthritis at 32 and totally disabled by age 45, who has been my inspiration of how to deal with life’s unintended events.

Flawless Beauty Revolt

In our ‘poor me’ American culture, my grandmother never ever expressed her pain and suffering — not that she was filled with laughter either. Instead she made my May baskets, sewing crepe paper flowers when her fingers were so knotted that she could barely pick up a coffee cup.

Posting this ‘Beauty Revolt’ editorial was my intention even before Stephanie Nielson hit the charts yesterday afternoon and continues today. Like an angel, NieNie (blog link) arrives at strange moments.

Our lives and some of our values couldn’t be more different, but I am tethered to this women who has turned her flaws into personal magnificence for three years now. Between us, I see something in Stephanie Nielson that triumphs politics, religion and ideas about women’s proper roles in the world.

Stephanie is a traditionalist and I am not. We both care deeply about others and express this sympatico for humanity on a daily basis.

The greatest honor I can pay Stephanie Nielson — and she may not want the job — it to place her with Angelina Jolie, Shakira, Queen Rania and a limited number of other women who are our muses, truly inspiring me and our content at Anne of Carversville.

Stephanie Nielson has taught me that flaws are not to be feared. In reality, these imperfections are the backbone of strong, articulate, relevant and engaged women. As for a revolt against the drive to be ‘flawwless’, I say ‘bring it on!’ Anne

Reader Comments (1)

Thank you for posting this. Your point of view showed another meaning of our own concept, as it was story of aesthetic tension appearance. Without sounding statements, advertising campaigns and struggles for power. Like the observation for partisan work on the improvement and erosion, behind the scenes, when beauty cares about anonymity instead of glory. But the imperfection as one of the possible ways to win through that you have noticed looks as a new evolution for me.

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